CARLOZ ALCARAZ ON LISTENING TO THE ROCKY SOUNDTRACK FOR MOTIVATION: “I try to listen to that song before every match, it motivates me. When I listen to the music I remember the movie and it’s amazing the big fight that Rocky has and I try to have that experience in every match so that’s what motivates me.”

FEATURE ON CARLOS ALCARAZ: The views of his fellow players at the Barcelona Open including Pablo Carreno Busta, Cameron Norrie, Diego Schwartzman, Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

PABLO CARRENO BUSTA ON THE PRESSURE OF PLAYING AT HOME: “I don’t know if it’s difficult, if it’s different, but it is strange because normally we play around the world and in Spain there are just two tournaments, here and in Madrid. But I feel pressure playing here because you know you play in front of all the people that know you a lot that support you so it’s a little bit different, it’s tough. But at the same time it’s special to be in at the last moments of a tournament like Barcelona.”

FELICIANO LOPEZ ON BARCELONA TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR DAVID FERRER: ‘I told him many times he should still be playing because you see him, he’s in great shape and we hit a couple of times this year and he was as tough as he was. Nothing has changed from his last match.”

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME ON WORKING WITH UNLE TONI NADAL: ‘We’ve been together for more than a year now and he’s realistic. I’m not Rafa Nadal, we have different qualities, it’s tough to replicate what Rafael did in his career on clay. I’m more of a hard-court player and I also play well on grass, so of course it’s different strengths. So he’s adapted his input and he’s adapted to the player he’s working with and he’s not approaching it like he wants me to play like his nephew.”

TOMMY ROBREDO ON RETIRING AT THE BARCELONA OPEN: ‘I’m going to turn 40 in the next weeks and I’ve spent many years on Tour and with the pandemic I was not playing that much. I also have a family now and I have a daughter and I really want to stay home. I always said that I am going to quit that day I have a priority that is better then tennis and being at home with my wife and daughter, [that is] much better than travelling now.”

FEATURE ON THE FUTURE OF COACHING FROM THE WORLD TENNIS CONFERENCE: Contributions from Brad Gilbert, Felix Auger-Aliassime’s coach Frédéric Fontang, Novak Djokovic’s physical coach, Marco Panichi and Sports Scientist Jack Groppel.